Phage0070 t1_j6o415u wrote on January 31, 2023 at 6:30 PM

"Head over heels" actually began around the 1700's as the more literal "heels over head", and then later on in the 1800's took on the figurative "heels over head" form which doesn't make much sense. The evolution of language is strange that way, for example how "literally" has been changing to mean "figuratively" somewhat recently.

pannnetone t1_j6o7bst wrote on January 31, 2023 at 6:50 PM

>for example how "literally" has been changing to mean "figuratively" somewhat recently.

That always irritates me as a non-english person. Always thought it's just dumb people who don't know how to talk properly

Phage0070 t1_j6o8529 wrote on January 31, 2023 at 6:55 PM

There are tons of examples of this strange changing of language. For example today "OK" is used for acknowledgment or agreement but most people don't know its origin. It is actually an abbreviation of "oll korrect", a deliberate misspelling for the purposes of humor in the 1800's of the phrase "all correct".

I can only imagine how bewildering these idiosyncrasies must be for someone trying to learn the language.

pannnetone t1_j6o8l4t wrote on January 31, 2023 at 6:58 PM

Ha! Didn't know this and in fact I was asking this myself for quite some time. Thanks.

ToBeSimpleAgain t1_j6oaewr wrote on January 31, 2023 at 7:09 PM

The literally replacing figuratively is supposed to denote the hyperbolic nature of what is being said, no?

Like: omg, I'm literally ded.

Everyone knows that that it is impossible, but we saying to give emphasis to what is being said.

So, it's really just a hyperbolic device. Language is funny like that, but I can't see how it's wrong since I think the absurdity is part of the intent of use.